Sundre leaves retirement to serve as interim dean

by Isa Torres, staff writer

                                                                

It didn’t take long to find the right person to take the place of Dr. Jay Driver as dean of arts and sciences, at least temporarily.

Dr. Orlo Sundre, who held that position more than 18 years ago, has returned to help fill the void. According to Dr. Sundre, even though he was retired, he kept in contact with many of his friends at SPC. 

Dr. Sundre was born in Mayville, North Dakota. He studied at Mayville State University, before obtaining his master’s degree and his doctorate at North Dakota University. He later worked at Eastern New Mexico University, before joining SPC to serve as the dean of arts and sciences in 1983.

After four years, he became the vice president for academic affairs. He asked to be reassigned to teach in the Math Department in 1992, before retiring three years later. 

Dr. Sundre is married and has two grown sons with careers. When he told his wife about the opportunity to come back to SPC, his wife said, “Go for it.”

 “I feel honored that I’ve been provided with this opportunity,” said Dr. Sundre.

 “SPC is a very special place for me.” 

Dr. Sundre added that he likes working at SPC, and for him to be back again is something really great.

 After 11 years of being retired, Dr. Sundre said he heard about the problem that Vice President Darrell Grimes and SPC President Dr. Kelvin Sharp were facing after Dr. Driver decided to return to the classroom.

“I’m pleased to be here,” said Dr. Sundre. “There are 11 departments in SPC, and out of those 11 departments, I know 10 of them.”

After hearing about what was going on, Dr. Sundre talked to Grimes and told him he was willing to work as an interim dean until they find someone else. 

Dr. Sundre said he hasn’t been here long enough to talk to the chairmen about projects to improve the departments.

“I still haven’t projected any changes,” said Dr. Sundre, “or long term goals.”

To Dr. Sundre, helping is the best thing he can do.

“It’s a fact that the student comes first,” he said. “It’s part of my philosophy.”

He said his main goal is to help SPC.

“I’m pleased to help with this situation,” he added, explaining that being hereto contribute means a lot to him. “It gives me a sense of self-worth.”

Dr. Sundre said his contribution will include helping faculty, students, and the Arts and Sciences Division as a whole while Grimes looks for somebody who might want to take the job.

Asked if he wanted to stay for more than a year, Dr. Sundre replied, “I better not respond to that question. I promised a year.”

Since Dr. Sundre has done this before, he said he knows exactly what to do and what to expect.

“I expect to be helpful,” said Dr. Sundre. “We are going to be working with curriculum changes, budget requests, faculty, and with the daily problems.”

Dr. Sundre and Grimes are good friends, and they used to tease a lot about making       Dr. Sundre the interim dean of arts and sciences.

“It was obvious that it was going to take a while to find a dean,” said Grimes.

Dr. Orlo Sundre like to joked about the situation until he finally decided to stop teasing about it and step up to volunteer to fill the position.

“He (Dr. Sundre) knows the basics,” said Grimes. “It was logical to get somebody like him. He is very professional and very serious about education. He’s a good leader. That’s why he’s back.”

As for the search for a new dean, Grimes said that right now is not a good moment to look for a dean. The job description also will be rewritten.

“We saw that it wasn’t very accurate,” said Grimes.

Grimes added that they will look very intensively in the spring for a dean who will fit with the new job.